The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement negotiated as an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, which was adapted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992). All parties to the UNFCCC can sign or ratify the Kyoto Protocol, while non-parties to the UNFCCC cannot. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.

The Kyoto Protocol is agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emission of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990 (but note that, compared to the emissions levels that would be expected by 2010 without the Protocol, this limitation represents a 29% cut).

The goal is to lower overall emissions of greenhouse gases averaged over the period of 2008-2012. National limitations range from 8% reductions for the European Union and some others, to 7% for the US, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia and permitted increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for Iceland.

Most provisions of the Kyoto Protocol apply to developed countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to set a common but differentiated responsibilities.

The parties agreed that:

1. The largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse effect originated in developed countries;

2. Per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low;

3. The share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs.

In other worlds, China, India, and other developing countries were not included in any numerical limitation of the Kyoto Protocol because they were not the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions during the pre-treaty industrialization period. However without the commitment to reduce according to the Kyoto target, developing countries do share the common responsibility that all countries have in reducing emissions.

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